Cultural Conflicts in Mathematics Education:

Developing a Research Agenda

ALAN J .. BISHOP

Research on ethnomathematics within the last ten years Underlying all this research is the fundamental epistemo-
has opened up some new possibilities for developments in logical question: Is there one mathematics appearing in
mathematics education, particularly in situations where different manifestations and symbolisations, or are there
cultural conflicts potentially exist. In this paper I shall different mathematics being practised which have certain
explore the "culture conflict" construct with a view to similarities'? From an educational perspective, however,
developing a possible research agenda. the concerns are generally focussed by the implications of
Up to ten years ago, mathematics was generally the differences between the mathematical knowledge of
assumed to be culture-free and value-free knowledge; different cultural groups.
explanations of "failure" and "difficulty" in relation to For example, within current educational practices we
school mathematics were sought either in terms of the can recognise that efforts to develop multi-cultural mathe-
learners' cognitive atttibutes or in terms of the quality of matics education have produced violent hostility in several
the teaching they received; there were several attempts to education quarters Many schools, and teachers claim ''we
make mathematics teaching more affectively satisfactory don't have that problem in our school", and "real" mathe-
to the learners, with few long term benefits; and '~social" matics is still felt to have "powerful" connotations within
and "cultural" issues in mathematics education research many educational systems, mitigating against efforts to
were rarely considered. broaden the mathematics curriculum
Within the last ten years, there has been an increasing
move to make mathematics accessible to all learners; there Cultural conflicts
has been an increasing questioning of the relevance of ex- The area I want to address in this paper concerns the
colonial models of education in developing countries, and research issues deriving from the different interpretations
in countries with indigenous "minorities"; the social and responses to cultural conflicts in mathematics educa-
dimension has come into greater prominence in research in tion In my book Mathematical enculturation a cultural
mathematics education; and the cultural nature of mathe- perspective on mathematics education, [Bishop, 1988] cul-
matical knowledge has become clearer to many mathemat- tural conflicts were not specifically addressed. The ideas of
ics educators [see Keitel et al, 1989] cultural difference and similarity did play a large role in the
Three important research approaches are shaping the first part of the book, where different kinds of mathemati-
recent work on ethnomathematics, with the following foci: cal knowledge and cultural values were analysed. Howev-
er, after demonstrating what I called the "pan-cultural"
a) Mathematical knowledge in traditional cultures, e.g
nature of mathematical activity, the educational analysis
Ascher [1991], Zaslavsky [1973], Gerdes [1985], Har-
followed the enculturation path, in which the principal
ris [1991], Pinxten [1987]. This research is informed
assumption made was of cultural consonance . Thus, the
by an anthropological approach, emphasising the
focus in the second half of the book was on the mathemati-
uniqueness of particular knowledge and practices in
cal education of young people born into, and assumed to be
relation to different cultures Languages are also of
experiencing no conflict with, a Westemised, mathematico-
significance in these studies, together with the values
technological, society and its associated culture (MT)
and customs of the cultural groups concerned
This assumption of cultural consonance has generally
b) Mathematical knowledge in non-Western societies,
been for many years tacit, accepted, and unproblematic
e.g. Ronan & Needham [1981], Joseph [1991], Gerdes
Despite continual concerns about the difficulties children
[1991].. This research has a historical flavour, relying
have learning mathematics and about the feelings of anxi-
as it does on past documents, rather than on present
ety provoked by much mathematics teaching, explanations
practice.
have been sought elsewhere . Societal explanations have
c) Mathematical knowledge of different groups in soci-
been raised about the pressure on everyone to learn mathe-
ety, e.g. Lave [1984], Saxe [1990], de Abreu [1988]
matics, psychological explanations have been developed
Carraher [1985] This research has a socio-psychologi-
about the ability of everyone to learn mathematics, and
cal emphasis, where the focus is on actual practice
pedagogical explanations have been sought about the abili-
The particular mathematical knowledge is socially
ty of teachers and materials to make mathematics accessi-
constructed by the groups who are engaging in the
ble to all. Cultural consonance has also been assumed
specific practices
because of a general lack of understanding of mathematics

For the Learning of Mathematinl4, 2 (June, 1994)

FLM Publishing Association, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
15
 as cultural knowledge, and a lack of awareness of any val- lematic educational future-a future of cultural continuity,
ues underlying mathematical knowledge For many people albeit with a critique encouraged from within, and in terms
still, mathematics is culture-free and value-free knowl- of the existing cultural norms. In a sense, mathematical
edge. As was made clear in Mathematical enculturation, enculturation seemed a natural, educational evolutionary
one of the reasons for writing that hook was precisely to process, well interpretable within the already established
explode the "culture-free" myth. frames of mathematics education.
As soon as mathematics is understood as culturally- By contrast, in situations of dissonance between out-of-
based knowledge, largely through an awareness of cultural school and in-school cultural norms, it is very unclear what
forms of mathematics which are different from that of MT the educational task should be . Cultural continuity becomes
culture, then a general educational assumption of cultural a meaningless term, or should at least be treated problemat-
consonance becomes invalid One is made starkly aware of ically. The established theoretical constructs of mathemat-
the fact that many young people in the world are experi- ics education, developed tluough a research history which
encing a dissonance between the cultural tradition repre- has failed to recognise cultural conflicts, are at best mis-
sented outside school (for example in their home or their leading, and at worst irrelevant and obstructive. The task of
community) and that represented inside the school. More- exploring the teaching and curricular implications of cul-
over one can argue that although this is very likely to be tural dissonance seem to be of a totally different order.
the case for children in rural societies in Africa and Asia, One way to make a start on this task is to analyse the
for example, it is also a plausible scenario for young peo- similarities between situations of conflict, and between the
ple in many other societies as well, such as those where experiences of different alienated groups. Hitherto mathe-
"Westernisation" has happened rapidly, or where the matics educators have been reluctant to do that, with their
Islamic religion defines the cultural norm research fOcussing on, and remaining within, the problem-
For fOcussing on research ideas, however, I believe it is space of any one group (for example, ethnic minority stu-
important to make a more radical assumption, namely that dents, girls, or second language learners) Not only have
all formal mathematics education is a process of cultural mathematics educators not looked across different groups
interaction, and that every child experiences some degree within their field, they have failed to look across at similar
of cultural conflict in that process This I believe is a plau- conflict situations experienced in history education,
sible assumption to make, on the bases that schools are dif- TESOL education, or religious education, to name but
ferent social institutions from others such as homes, that three areas . TherefOre, it is helpful, I believe, to begin to
they have been established to do what homes and other recognise and analyse similarities between the responses of
institutions cannot do, and, furthermore, that a great deal educators to those different situations of conflict The table
of research has already documented such conflict (see next page) represents a first attempt to do this, based
The UNESCO publication Mathematics; education, and on the existing research in mathematics education, which
society [Keitel, 1989] which is a report of the Special is limited but helpful nevertheless.
Day's proceedings in ICME 6, demonstrates that among As was indicated earlier the predominant traditional view
the groups for whom conflict with, and alienation from, of mathematics education was a "culture-blind" view, and
school mathematics exists are: this view still prevails in the vast majority of mathematics
ethnic minority children in Westernised societies classrooms around the world, in my estimation. The view is
- second language learners essentially a corollary of understanding the "universality"
- indigenous "minorities" in Westernised societies value of Western mathematics as implying a culture-free
- girls in many societies knowledge domain. The reality is that Western mathematics
- Western "colonial" students developed the value of the universal applicability and validi-
fundamental religious groups, often of a non-Cluistian ty of its statements That however does not suggest that this
nature knowledge domain is in any way culture-free, nor value-free
children from lower-class and lower-caste families Assimilation approaches are demonstrated by the many
- physically disadvantaged learners attempts to introduce mathematical ideas and practices
- rural learners, particularly in Third World communities from different cultures Zaslavsky's article [1991] illus-
trates this multi-cultural approach
The conflicts appear to vary and concern some or all of the In accommodation approaches, the argument is taken
following: further and rather than just adding interesting examples to
- language the normal curriculum, attempts are made to restructure
- geometrical concepts that curriculum This is perhaps one of the differences
- calculation procedures between a multi-cultural approach and critical mathemat-
- symbolic representations ics education, which also argues fOr such a restructuring
- logical reasoning , [Skovsmose, 1985].. Ethnomathematical research such as
- attitudes, goals, and cognitive preferences Pompeu's [1992] also tries to tackle this problem area
- values and beliefs Amalgamation approaches argue for an increased involve-
ment of the particular community's adults in the education
In such a situation, educational decision-making in mathe- process Bilingual and bicultural team-teaching experiments
matics takes on a new order of complexity . The assump- in Australia and New Zealand demonstrate the limitations of
tion of cultural consonance implied a conceptually unprob- the two previous approaches. [Barton, 1990; Harris, 1988]

16

;:
'·
 Approaches to Assumptions Curriculum reaching Language
culture conflict

Culture··blind No culture conflict I raditional No particular Official

Traditional view Canonical modification

Assimilation Child s culture Some child's Caring approach Official, plus

should be useful as cultural contexts perhaps with some relevant
examples included pupils in groups contrasts and
remediation
for second
language
learners

Accommodation Child's culture Curriculum reaching style Child's home

should influence restructured due modified as language
education to child's culture preferred by accepted in
children class, plus
official
language
support

Amalgamation Culture's adults Curriculum Shared or team Bi·lingual

should share jointly organised teaching bi-eultural
significantly in by teachers teaching
education and community

Appropriation Culture's Curriculum I caching entirely reaching in

community should organised wholly by community's home
take over education by community adults community s
preferred
language

At the appropriation level, the cultural conflicts caused What criteria should be used to evaluate an appropri-
by a Western schooling being imposed on, or adopted by, a ate intended mathematics curriculum in a culturally
non-Western community, are addressed by the take-over of pluralistic society? There is no suggestion that a uni-
that schooling by the community Gerdes [1985] discusses versal multi-cultural curriculum for mathematics edu-
examples of this approach and Pinxten [1987] offers a the- cation should be developed, but the determining of
oretical rationale for developing this approach further criteria fOr evaluating curricula would be a significant
step forward
A possible research agenda b) Non-formal mathematics education
Various challenging questions are now raised by this kind What roles are non-school alternatives fulfilling in
of analysis, and here I will refer to just three aspects of relation to cultural conflicts? Are these alternatives on
research, which relate to the three levels of curriculum: the increase? To what extent is the increase a measure
intended, implemented, attained This structuring has been of the communities' satisfaction with formal mathe-
chosen to expose the three significant levels of cultural matics education? It is high time that more research
conflict recognition, and thus potential resolution. looked at the relationships between formal and non-
1. Regarding the mathematical knowledge as repr·e- formal mathematics education, and this area of cultur-
al conflicts offers a particularly important focus
sented in the intended curriculum
c) Informal mathematics education
Here we are becoming more aware of the need to con-
sider three very different educational structures, and In what sense are infOrmal societal and community
influences on mathematics learners educational? How
among the possible questions, the following seem the
can we learn to document their influences, in order to
most promising:
point up cultural obstacles and barriers which they cre-
a) Formal mathematics education
ate fOr mathematics learners?
What theories could influence the "culturalising" of
the formal mathematics curriculum? How should, and 2. Regarding implementing a mathematical knowl-
could, a curriculum be restructured in relation to a edge environment in schools and classroom
local culture? The six-activity approach [Bishop, Here there are three main research avenues which are
1988] is one way-what are others? worth exploring further:
What values are developed within the current school a) Implementing a "culture-blind" intended mathematics
mathematics curriculum? Values are rarely explicitly curriculum
referred to in mathematics curricula, and research To what extent can a "culture-blind" intended mathe-
which reveals the hidden values is sorely needed matics curriculum be made less of an obstacle to
What other values can be emphasised? learning in the classroom? Given that changing the

17
 intended curriculum has proved difficult, largely I society Papers presented at ICME 6, Science and Technology Educa-
believe because of the inadequate research base for tion Document Series No. 35 Paris, France: UNESCO
Ascher, M. [1991] Ethnomathematics.: A multicultural view of mathemati-
many of the claims, what can be done at the classroom cal ideas California, USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company
level? Research here can usefully be focussed on the Barton, B. [1990] Developing bi-cultural mathematics. Paper for
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classroom activities. Bishop, A J [1988] Mathematical enculturation; a cultural perspective
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